More things you can eat for extra brain protection....

Today's Post: Thursday, 7-28-2011

Yesterday, I saw a story online with a whole list of things you can eat that give you extra brain protection.

It included some interesting foods.

1.Hopefully you are already eating a health supporting diet such as a DASH II with extra virgin olive oil added or Mediterranean diet each with less or no refined grains and extra vegetables. Those diets and avoiding excess sugar, excess omega 6, refined grains, and junk foods and soft drinks as well keep your circulation good and your inflammation low. They lower your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes dramatically. That means your brain gets good circulation and keeps working right when otherwise it might not.

2. Hopefully, you are getting regular exercise every week. Regular moderate exercise like walking or gardening or tai chi plus interval cardio a few times a week and strength training a few times a week also lower your risk of heart disease and type 2 diabetes dramatically. That means your brain gets good circulation and keeps working right when otherwise it might not.

But doing these exercises also optimizes the neurotransmitters in your brain, gives it extra circulation, and grows new nerve and brain cells too. And, because it sharply slows aging to do this, your brain will keep working well longer for that reason too!

3. Also, the two best things to take for brain protection are curcumin supplements or curried foods with turmeric or both and at least 4,000 to 8,000 iu a day of vitamin D3. Studies show that these two things not only are protective of your health and many other ways, they may help prevent or even reverse the changes in your brain that cause Alzheimer’s disease.

4. I liked the foods list yesterday for several reasons.

a) It listed wild caught salmon since the one of the omega 3’s it contains is DHA. They said that DHA helps your nerves communicate more and better and enables your body to grow new ones more easily.

Getting enough omega 3 oils also helps avoid or lessen depression which helps your brain work better.

Surprisingly they did not also include sardines, small mackerel, and other wild caught fish high in omega 3 oils. They also did not note that you can take purified fish oil omega 3 supplements and take DHA supplements directly.

Nor did they note that eating these things or taking them plus cutting back on omega 6 oils like soy and corn oils and fats from grain fed animals who are mostly fed corn and eating extra virgin olive oil instead all help to lower inflammation. NOT having high chronic inflammation protects your brain directly from damage. And, since it also helps protect your blood vessels and heart from damage, it preserves your circulation which strongly protects your brain.

b) They suggested that eating a red apple each day protected your brain with a strong antioxidant called quercetin.

Wikipedia also notes that foods rich in quercetin include black and green tea; onions, especially red onions, red grapes, tomatoes, broccoli and other leafy green vegetables, virtually all red and red purple berries such as cranberries and raspberries.

Since red wine is made from red grapes, it also is a source of quercetin.

(Except for whole red apples and red onions, I eat and drink several of these things almost every day.)

In addition to the antioxidant protection quercetin gives your nerves and brain, it also helps prevent allergies and boosts your endurance. So, it’s no surprise that you can also take quercetin supplements.

But the apple recommendation is interesting for another reason. The ursolic acid in the peels of apples also apparently helps you avoid high blood sugar, lose fat, and build muscle.

So, if you can get organic, unwaxed apples and eat a few each week, you get both benefits.

c) In addition, both blueberries and strawberries have been shown to have direct benefits to your brain and to improve brain function. (Note these are two kinds of berries where it’s important to eat the organic version to the largest extent you can.)

d) Dark chocolate is rewarding to eat. The article said it released endorphins.

It has some caffeine and related substances. So dark chocolate is a mild stimulant similar in strength to black tea.

And, if you eat or drink it without milk, it also lowers blood pressure if it’s high and improves your circulation.

You brain loves every part of these benefits!

If you eat it as dark chocolate plus sugar, it’s worth knowing that a quarter of a small candy bar of dark chocolate is enough to give you the blood pressure and circulation benefit.

And, drinking unsweetened cocoa works well. You can take in more chocolate with no sugar at all!

Lastly, some specialty chocolate shops now have hot and cold dark chocolate and chocolate pieces with no sugar.


e) The other food they listed I thought a great addition was dried oregano added to savory foods or salads. “ In several studies, oregano was shown to have 40 times more antioxidant properties than apples, 30 times more than potatoes, 12 times more than oranges, and 4 times more than that of blueberries or strawberries.” That means just a little in your salad or tomato sauce can do you and your brain a lot of good.

But that’s not all. Like apple peels, oregano is a good source of ursolic acid. Ursolic acid also apparently helps you avoid high blood sugar, lose fat, and build muscle according to a study I read.


f) Walnuts were on their list. They noted that walnuts are high in natural vitamin E and vitamin B6. Walnuts also are high in the plant form of omega 3 and have been shown to have extra heart and circulation protecting qualities.

But for those who aren’t allergic virtually all raw or dry roasted nuts with no oils or salt added have close to as good or better brain protection.

Pecans, almonds, and pistachios in addition to walnuts also have heart OK fats or oils and tend to increase your levels of protective HDL when you eat them.

They are high in magnesium and other minerals to keep you healthy and which help in keeping you away from high blood pressure.

That means they all protect your brain by protecting its circulation!

They also are a snack that does not increase your blood sugar and can be eaten instead of a sugary or starch snack.

Nuts taste good. And between being crunchy and having protein, fat, AND fiber, they are filling and appetite satisfying to eat.

And, there’s a bonus. Despite having that fat, unless you deliberately overstuff yourself with them studies show you can eat them every day and not get fat yourself.

You can also combine these foods in a salad.

You could have red onion slices, romaine lettuce, walnut halves, dried cranberries, and a tomato puree and extra virgin olive oil dressing, and slices of tomato, and minced garlic, and a good bit of dried oregano and throw in some diced, organic broccoli florets.

Eating vegetables does NOT have to be dull!

New information on preventing strokes....

Today's Post: Thursday, 6-16-2011

We have already posted that you can protect your heart and help prevent cancer by cutting WAY back on oils high in omega 6 such as soy, canola, safflower, and particularly corn oil. It also helps to mostly avoid the fat of animals and poultry fed grain. (Meat from 100 % grass fed cattle and lambs and pasture fed poultry does NOT have this problem. Grass fed, “grain finished” beef is basically higher cost grain fed beef.)

You can also add more health OK sources of omega 3 such as wild caught salmon, sardines, herring, and small mackerel – and omega 3 supplements from purified fish oil.

Doing both begins to give you much lower chronic inflammation and healthier and less clogged up arteries and other blood vessels.

There is also evidence that using extra virgin olive oil instead of oils high in omega 6 helps to do this and has direct health benefits too!

So, you are far less likely to get vascular dementia, heart attacks, PAD, peripheral artery disease, and ED, erectile dysfunction, by using olive oil instead of oils high in omega 6 or dairy fat from grain fed cows in the form of butter.

It certainly follows that you also likely will get less strokes, particularly the kind caused by clots blocking off the blood flow to your brain, obstructive strokes.

In fact, a study was reported today that found just using olive oil often reduced the incidence of strokes!

AP had this headline: “Olive oil could lower stroke risk: study (Older people who eat olive oil have a lower risk of stroke.) AFP Wed Jun 15, 2011 WASHINGTON”

“Older people who eat olive oil have a lower risk of stroke than those who do not, suggested a study of more than 7,000 French people that was published Wednesday in the United States.”

“The subjects were divided into groups according to their use of olive oil, ranging from people who did not use it at all to those who used it in dressing, cooking and on bread.”

“When researchers adjusted for factors such as body weight, physical activity and overall diet, they found that the so-called "intensive" olive oil users had a 41 percent lower risk of stroke compared to those who never ate olive oil.”

“The findings were published in Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.”

Other ways to prevent strokes include:

Eating blueberries several times a week. This also benefits your brain and improves mental performance directly besides making strokes less likely.

Eating the DASH II diet with olive oil added or eating the Mediterranean diet with more nonstarchy vegetables and less grains keeps your blood pressure at normal levels or lowers it if its high. (Even if your blood pressure stays over 140 over 90 eating this way will help you prevent strokes. Besides the olive oil, the increase in potassium and decrease in sodium and the lowering of excessive blood sugar from eating this way also prevents strokes.)

(Eating that way and NOT including soft drinks or commercial desserts or snacks also has many other health benefits. And you’ll be far less fat.)

If you have blood pressure of over 140 over 90, adding regular exercise and avoiding tobacco smoke AND eating this way are important to protect you from strokes and heart attacks. Doing meditation or better yet Tai Chi for stress relief also helps. So does losing at least 5% of your current weight if you are one of the 50% of Americans who are too fat now. Your blood pressure will be lower and stop getting higher as fast.

If your blood pressure is consistently well over 160 over 100, lowering it using a drug or two is important for avoiding strokes and kidney damage. As you do the other things, you may well find your blood pressure will stay well below that even without the drug or drugs. But if it’s over that, taking the drugs does cut stroke risk.